Hm, I did a search and didn' t get any meaningful hits on this Stallone flick.

To be honest, first time around watching this, I was not very impressed. It was all a bit silly and Stallone just didn't seem right for the part (that uniform is something else.)

However, never let it be said that I refuse to do a 180 when necessary. I popped this into the player tonight, on a whim, and had a thoroughly good time. Perhaps the only thing I disliked about it was that it could easily have been twice as long and still been fun. Who wouldn't have wanted to see more of the Angel family? And the clones made an all too brief appearance.

I have the R2 release, and the transfer is one of those that makes you go WOW. It's really a reference type DVD. Superb clarity, great colors, and a 5.1 track to die for. I'm sure the R1 release is just as good.

I know this was a comic book, but to be honest, I've never read them. I'm sure some purists will find all kinds of fault with this interpretation. Speaking as someone who was just looking for the hell of it, I was mighterly impressed. Lots of boom, lots of bangs, some good and a splash of blood. Not a bad, if brainless, way to spend 90 minutes. Excellent stuff - and yes, I've completely changed my mind (thank God we have DVD so reappraisals if movies are so much easier!)

More of the Angel family would've been good, but the movie really needed the Dark Judges (from the comics).

Judge Death was always my favorite character from Dredd, and his philosophy was so simple...
"all crime is comitted by the living, therefore living is a sin, the sentence is death!"
I'd recomend trying to find a graphic novel compilation of the Judge Death stories, then you'll see just how cool the movie could've been.
As is, the movie was and is far better than I expected. I have the R1 disc, and have thought about getting the R2 for the anamorphic transfer and featurette, but it doesn't seem worth it as I hardly ever watch it.

When I finally got around to seeing this, I didn't find the movie to be as bad as its reputation, but it was still missing the satirical bite of the comics.

The comics were originally a send-up of Margaret Thatcher's ultra-conservative administration in the UK, and, by extension, probably the Reagan-era in American politics. (JD is a British creation, originally appearing in the weekly publication 2000AD, but the stories were based in a dystopian American future.)

Since the movie removed most of the elements of satire from the film, it was turned into a fairly standard action movie/star vehicle. (In the comics, Judge Dredd NEVER removes his helmet.)

Interesting note - there have been rumblings for ages that a lot of Robocop was cribbed from the Dredd comic stories.

__________________"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others." -- Harry J. Anslinger, first commissioner of the United States Bureau of Narcotics